Page 40 of Deputy Brand Gets Her Man
“I never really believed it, you know? That she would have killed herself just as soon as she left me there. But I was a kid; what does a kid know?”
“Why didn’t you believe it?”
“Because she told me she’d come back,” he said. “She promised. I just kept expecting her to show up saying it was all a mistake.”
“Hell,” she said. “That must hurt so bad.”
“Less when I’m with you. Shoot, I didn’t mean to say that.” He really hadn’t. It had just come out. And it was true; there was something about being with Willow that soothed that wounded part of him. Was it just the presence of a woman in his life? Or was it this woman?
“Hell,” she repeated. And then she said, “Hey, Gringo?”
“Yeah, Deputy?”
“I’m takin’ the turnoff.”
Minutes later, he met her at the door, pulled her right into his arms, and kissed her like he meant it. Beans jumped and barked and pawed at her legs.
“Hey, hey, dude, enough. Down,” Jeremiah said, pumping his palm toward the floor.
The pup sat.
“Wait.” He held up one finger.
Then he turned his attention back to Willow, “Where were we?”
“You taught him that already?”
“We’ve had most of the day together. I got him a vet’s appointment tomorrow. And best of all, a long-lasting chewy treat for tonight.” He kissed her again and the pup whined. Jeremiah grabbed the treat off the counter and tossed it toward Beans. Then he started undressing Willow.
First the shirt, button by button. He pushed it off her shoulders, down her arms, moving her legs with his as he did. He slid the bra straps down her shoulders, kissing her mouth, her neck, her face.
“Slow down, Gringo. I need a shower,” she said.
“What a great idea. I’ll help.”
She peeled his T-shirt up as he shuffled them toward a bathroom. He let go of her long enough for her to pull it up over his head and arms, then resumed kissing her all the way into bathroom and up against the wall.
“The pup?” she asked.
“He’s all right,” he said, nodding toward the cute little guy, who was gnawing his large bone-shaped treat as if his life depended on it.
He took advantage of her turned head to kiss and nibble her neck.
He wanted her with his entire being, and the power of it shook him a little. He’d never felt anything this strong. He reached one arm sideways to adjust the shower knobs. She undid her pants and let them fall, and he shoved down his jeans and almost tripped into the shower. Their clothes got soaked. They kicked themselves free, and then it was hands and mouths and warm, slick skin, and her legs were around his waist, and the water was rushing over their entwined bodies.
He held onto her like he’d never let go. In that moment, he never wanted to.
For the second time, Willow crept out of the bunkhouse in the wee hours like a thief in the night while Jeremiah lay nude and deeply asleep. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to wrap herself in his arms and stay until morning, but that would risk being seen, and she wasn’t ready for all that with the family. She didn’t even know what she and Jeremiah were doing.
He hadn’t opened up a bit about what he was lying to her about, and damn him for that, because it was starting to feel like things could be good between them.
Drew’s little Beetle was parked by her cottage when Willow pulled in at last. She shut off her pickup and got out. The lights were on inside, gleaming through the little paned windows in front. Night bugs were chirping up a lullaby. There wasn’t a hint of a breeze, and the night air was warm and dry.
She walked up the little stepping stone sidewalk to the front steps, which were stone and had moss growing in patches. The door was unlocked. She rarely locked up when she left. So she went on in.
Drew was asleep on the little sofa, curled up like a child. Her laptop was on the coffee table, open.
Frowning, Willow closed the front door. Then she knelt at the coffee table and turned the laptop around, jiggling it to life as she did.
